Wow. Awesome movie. I went in with high expectations and this movie totally delivered for me. SO sad to see Wash go. Wish they could've killed someone else off, even though I don't know who that would've been. I love Wash. Other than that, this movie kicked nine kinds of ass. Will probably go and see it again this weekend.

watched the pilot on dvd and now i gotta go see this one again, gonna go tonight

The first two eps of the series get you interested in the characters and you can tell Joss and the guys were feeling out how the show should be done. After that, it's all gold IMO. By the last few eps, it became one of the best sci-fi shows I ever saw on tv. I let a friend of mine take my set home with him and he said he HATED the first two eps, but he's now convinced it's his fave sci-fi show. And this is from a guy that LOVED Farscape with a passion. IMO, had the show got a chance to go a full year, it would have been even better than it was. As it is, it just didn't get a chance to get to where it was clearly going and hopefully the movie(s) can fix that. If you have the boxset, I'd watch the rest of the eps.

It was great to see the resolution of so many issues, but imagine how much fun it would have been to have the plots play out over a couple of seasons. Firefly could have been a brilliant series if they gave it a chance.

But they killed Wash...

Well, I'm a little late to the thread, having a friend visiting over the weekend and all, but still thought I'd throw my comments in..

Okay, to get the elephant out of the way first.. the first line of my post is the first comment I have about my reaction to the movie. Book, I also hated that he was killed, but for some odd reason I can accept it. Then Serenity gets torn apart in landing, and that was a little gut wrenching.. but Wash.. the rest of the movie was so overshadowed by that moment for me. I felt very heavy leaving the theatre.. and actually, when a friend asked what I thought as we were sitting through the credits, I couldn't even mutter a word. I don't remember what thought was forming, but I got a "B.." out. As my visiting friend said, it's like the stake hit everyone in the audience.

On the other hand, Wash got a grand finale, as before that happened, I was thinking how that was his finest moment. Which is more than I can say for Book, who was more just disposed of in the film.

The only other minor complaint about the film is Serenity it/herself. Instead of the warm browns, it was a very cold blue, and no longer the home-y feeling of "Firefly". And on top of it, Serenity wasn't even really in the movie much.. you didn't get the wonderful shots of the rooms that we saw on the show. It seemed to be much tighter whenever on or in Serenity.

It was a wonderful movie, don't get me wrong! Even though you could see it coming, Mal's plan by dragging the Reavers in behind them was great, as well as the origin of the Reavers.

Is it just me, or was anyone else looking for Badger on the monitors of dead people after Haven? Also, the way Simon told of getting River back on "Firefly" didn't seem to imply he had physically been the rescuer.. that seemed a bit off to me.

Well, after three days, that's all my random thoughts are bringing. We'll probably be going again this Sunday, so maybe I'll pick up on more.. though I don't think Wash's demise will get any easier...

I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned already - or maybe it was and I missed it. The Firefly theme is played at the very end of the credits. IIRC, it's an instrumental played as a guitar solo. My wife and I waited specifically hoping to hear the theme and we were rewarded. Kinda got us both choked up.

Ballad of Serenity (TV Version)

Another one here who went in to this completely blind, never seeing any of the series before. I thought the movie was fantastic, and I went out today on my lunch break and picked up the series DVD set. Look forward to seeing more of this.

Sums up my initial impression of the film the first time I saw a preview. I cajoled a neighbor into going (I still want to support Firefly) who was semi interested and had other friends lauding the show at him. Seeing it a 2nd time I was less critical, but no less underwhelmed. Coming out of it my neighbor was underwhelmed too.

I've thought alot about it and my opinion is that Mr. Whedon was pushing his 'Big Idea' in the film and that 'Big Idea' didn't leave enough room for the story and characters to breathe.

I stand by my assertion that Our Mrs. Reynolds would make a wonderful 2 hour film and would have been more enjoyable than Joss'es Big Idea^TM.

Yeah, but as Joss has said, this could be his only chance to tell the story. Sure, it felt rushed, but I'm really glad he took the opportunity to resolve so many issues.

The pilot was really not as ground breaking or really a good indication for the rest of the series. This is why Fox decided to show the train job first when it originally aired. They wanted something moving faster. Which when shown out of order really tossed folks for a loop.

The pilot is good for set up, but not much for anything else. Watch the rest and see if it clicks anymore.

I had the completely opposite reaction, the pilot made me like the show when I decided to re-visiit it on DVD. I watched the show as orginally aired and did not care for it. But that pilot set me straight for the rest of the series when I re-watched it.

I never saw Firefly on TV. However, I bought the dvd set on release day blind because Buffy and Angel are my two favorite shows. I was pretty bored with the pilot, but kept watching it and ended up loving it. So I suggest you keep watching and then go see the movie.

I've seen the first 9 minutes:

http://video.vividas.com/CDN1/3929_S...web/index.html

Oddly enough while I became a fan of the show when it came to DVD and I've waited for the movie for months like everybody else, to me the series pales in comparison to the movie. I loved it, was glad a few characters were actually killed off, because seriously, how is everybody going to live through what they threw on the screen for 2 hours?

I have also decided that River is seriously BAD. Maybe not Uma Thurman The Bride BAD, but she'll do.

A buddy and I just watched the movie for the first time today. Cranked up the big screen & the transfer on the dvd is almost perfect. Sound was great as well.

I just got into Firefly in the last couple of months & he borrowed my set & watched it overthe last two weeks.

We were both spoiler free and needless to say, our mouths dropped when Wash bought it. I just didn't know what to say. My friend was equally stunned. Neither of us was suprised when the Shepherd died but Wash!?!?!? I still feel kind of weird about it.

Actually I had hoped they would one day address Book's past but, oh well.

Granted Wash is not one of my favorite characters (I think Jayne & Mal are far funnier than he) but it was still shocking. As others have stated in this thread, after Wash died, all the gloves were off. I really thought that others were going to die as well.

The final fight between Mal & The Operative was awesome. Mal reminds me of Indiana Jones more than Han Solo. Not a great fighter but uses his wits & shoots first, asks questions later.

The fight scene with River at the bar was good but I felt the scene with her & the Reavers looked a little cheesy for some reason. The effects were fine and I didn't feel like I was watching a cartoon as I did with the Star Wars prequels.

Mal's dialogue was in top-form as was Jayne's. The film did seem rushed and I would gladly accept a 4 hour cut. Fuck that...give me another season.

I saw someone mentioned that there was a comic done recently. How was it & how many issues were done. We rented the film but I plan on going out & picking up the dvd asap. I was gonna wait on a price drop but I would rather go ahead & support it now. I am also eager to watch it again even though I just watched it a few hours ago.

Any other good items such as the comic books to support the series out there?

As much as I enjoyed the movie it wasnt as good as the show because the show was about the characters and they had to up the anti for the big screen. In the process most of the character interaction that made the show so good was gone.


I was kinda underwhelmed too but after about 4 episodes the cast and dialogue gel and it takes off. You wont be sorry if you continue.

Three issue comic from Dark Horse, it fits right between the TV series and the movie (explains stuff like why Shepherd Book is no longer on board). It's decent, not a patch on the live action stuff though.

And I'd heard a rumor they were going to do some novels based on Firefly but don't know if that's still happening or not.

Joss had said that he is working on more Comic Books, but I've heard nothing of novels.

Quote snipped for my comments..

Yeah, Wash dying was easily the most shocking part of the film. The second time I saw it in the theatre, there was a very audible gasp through the audience, and I would guess most there hadn't even seen the series.
As far as Book's past, don't give up all hope. Joss has said that's one of two things he'd like to do more with. The other being Jubal Early. I forget where I heard it (and I hope things that haven't been made and may never be are spoilerish) but Joss has pretty much said that he's not dead.

The three issue comic series others have touched on. It's neat for more, but it really just sits there in the end. There are some surprises in it, and some finality that seemed forced for what seemed bigger in the show, so all in all it filled the gap. I think it was on the DVDTalk radio thing that Joss mentioned doing another 3-parter sometime.
I haven't read it yet, but there is a novel for the movie, which apparently incorporates scenes not in the film and from what I heard had a short scene between the Operative and Book. Outside of that, there's the Visual Companion for the film which contains an interview with Joss, the script, and a couple articles on the background of the 'verse. There's also a book titles "Finding Serenity", which is basically a bunch of different writers analyzing the show through different articles which range from interesting to boring. Though of note, there is a Chinese translation guide for the show in the back.

Beyond the three books, there was an 'official movie magazine', 5 toys of three people, a card set, cds for the movie and series (highly recommended).. and not much else surprisingly.

I didnt think the comics were that good.

Browncoats to close 01.03.06

browncoats.serenitymovie.com

Ah well.. I guess it's not like there'll be much news to report anymore. I tried making a url out of it, but it kept defaulting to the movie website for reasons I don't understand.

If you have points, use them! (or you could always send them to me )

You should see more of his directing. The guy is a brilliant director. For FireFly he preferred mostly hand held shots. It was an artistic choice for both FireFly and Serenity. He has directed episodes of Buffy and Angel with a different directing style. Some with long dolly shots and stuff like that.

What you saw is the hand held style originally chosen for the show. Joss usually even kept the camera handheld and moving during CGI shots on the show and the film which is often not recommended, because it makes things more difficult in post. However, it gives the view a sense of being part of the action as opposed to just watching it.

In short, this style worked for FireFly and Serenity and I'm glad he didn't change anything simply because it was a feature film.

I'd venture that it's been at least 10 years since I've seen a movie death absolutely floor its audience, but when Wash bought the farm, the opening night audience I was with just couldn't believe it, I could tell people were reeling from it (especially since Book had already died defending Haven, and perhaps that was the death that people might have heard about, and weren't braced for Wash's sudden demise). People were audibly distressed, multitudes of "no...no, not Wash..." and sniffles ran through the audience. It's that kind of reaction that you just can't get from new characters that shows up in a movie with a running time of 2-3 hours. When Wash died, it hit every single Browncoat in the audience hard and swift in the gut. Even though I had seen a couple of advance screenings, just being with a crowd so distraught over this death had me fighting back tears as well.

They just don't make movies like this anymore.

The second time I saw it was later in it's run (yeah, like week three or something), and I was in a crowd that I wouldn't have guessed consisted of many Browncoats, and there was a very audible gasp when it happened. It quite surprised me.

Matt Damon and Nathan Fillion in... Saving the Other Private Ryan?


Some people, like Trekkies, seem to think that nothing fatal ever happening to the leads is good storytelling, and anyone other than Redshirt Bob getting killed off is bad writing. Not sure how that works, but that's how they think.